On Thu, 28 Jul 2005 11:29:37 +0100, The Todal in message
<news:3krqclFvjdg1U1@individual.net> wrote:

> "Alex Heney" <me8@privacy.net> wrote in message
> news:3vwcbzcuy8u5.mdegbmq8y9tv.dlg@40tude.net...
>> On Thu, 28 Jul 2005 10:45:21 +0100, The Todal in message
>> <news:3krnpkFughvgU1@individual.net> wrote:
>>
>>> "Paul Harper" <paul@harper.net> wrote in message
>>> news:6i9he1hog3fnnt9lifridsfcdlr7jjj2r9@4ax.com...
>>>> On Thu, 28 Jul 2005 10:08:10 +0100, "The Todal" <deadmailbox@beeb.net>
>>>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>>I often wondered whether it was legal to do so, having had neighbours
>>>>>hijack
>>>>>my connection, and having discovered that my own kids were sometimes
>>>>>inadvertently hijacking a neighbour's connection.
>>>>>
>>>>>Yet another way for law abiding citizens to find themselves in breach of
>>>>>the
>>>>>law, then
>>>>
>>>> I don't have a lot of sympathy - anyone who doesn't put security on
>>>> their wireless network deserves all they get as far as I am concerned.
>>>
>>> Agreed. I now use security on my home wireless broadband. It does
>>> unfortunately mean that when my kids are trying to connect, their
>>> computers
>>> connect them to the neighbour's service and seemingly I can't prevent
>>> that.
>>> Or at least, if there is a way I'd like to know it.
>>>
>>
>> Quite easy.
>>
>> All wireless routers I am aware of have the facility to change the SSID
>> (it
>> usually defaults to something like "NETGEAR", or "3COM").
>>
>> If you change it to something unique to you, and then set the kids laptop
>> to only connect to that network, rather than to "any network in range",
>> then they should always use yours.
>
> Hmmm. I'll have a go. I seem to remember that you can anyway ask your
> computer for a list of wireless services and can then ask it to connect to
> one, even if the default is your own one.

You can, but the problem with that is if the two of you have the same brand
of router (say Netgear), with default settings, then it won't know which is
your "NETGEAR" network, and which is their "NETGEAR" network.

That is why (apart from a little added security) I say to change the SSID.

--
Alex Heney
Global Villager
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